British Embassy
Ambassador and Diplomatic Staff
- Played By: David Mitchell
The newly appointed British Ambassador to Tazbekistan.
- Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: What he claims to be his winning strategy.
- Played By: Robert Webb
The British Deputy Head of Mission in Tazbekistan. He has been stationed in the country longer than any of the other staff and loves the country despite its flaws.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Hypercompetent Sidekick
- Number Two: To Keith.
- Played By: Susan Lynch
Consular Secretary at the embassy.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Easily the heaviest drinker among the staff, her response to the frustration of working in Tazbekistan.
- May cross over into Drowning My Sorrows since the final episode reveals that she has family issues and feels guilty that she is stationed abroad while her mother is gravely ill in the hospital.
- Played By: Amara Karan
Trade and Political Secretary at the embassy.
- Insufferable Genius: Neil sees her as this.
- Played By: Shivani Ghai
Public Relations Secretary at the embassy and is often in charge of running events to promote British culture. Unlike the other high-ranking embassy staff she is Tazbek, which means that her understanding of British culture is somewhat inaccurate.
- Happily Married: One of the reasons why she turns down Stephen Pembridge's advances.
Others
- Played By: Keeley Hawes
Keith's wife, and a practising physician. She works at a local hospital and often tries to advocate for better healthcare for Tazbeks.
- Honey Trap: She is seated next to Jamatt at an important embassy dinner in the first episode to "finesse" him into getting Neil an audience with the President.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Played By: Matthew Macfadyen
Micheal, aka the "Prince of Darkness", is Keith and Neil's superior at the FCO in London.
- The Dreaded: The thing British diplomats fear most in the world is screwing up bad enough that he gives them a personal visit.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Lord Peter Mandelson
, a high-ranking member of the Labour Party and frequent Cabinet minister from 1997-2010, was known as the Prince of Darkness.
Tazbek Government
- Played By: Igal Naor
The pseudo-democratic leader of the People's Republic of Tazbekistan. Has a special fondness for British television and the monarchy.
- Affably Evil: For a psuedodemocratic dictator, he's a rather jovial chap.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Throughout most of the series he seems like a typical eccentric dictator, but he doesn't hesitate to frame his critics for murder or firebomb entire villages of his own people to stop anti-government rebels.
- Vodka Drunkenski: He seems to suffer no effect from the ridiculously large amount of vodka consumed on his "hunting trip" with the foreign diplomats.
- Played By: Richard Katz
President Karzak's nephew and a high-ranking member of the government. Frequently meets with the embassy staff as Karzak's representative.
- Number Two: To President Karzak.
- Played By: Lydia Leonard
President Karzak's daughter and the most important woman in Tazbekistan.
- Nepotism: She holds plenty of positions and doesn't seem to be good at any of them (especially singing and managing the football team).
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: She is simultaneously the manager of the Tazbek national football team, the Tazbek Ambassador to UNESCO, a model, a pop star, a patron of numerous charities, a Member of Parliament, and Tazbekistan's major producer of wine.
Other Britons
- Played By: Tom Hollander
A minor member of the British Royal Family that travels frequently as a trade envoy. Comes off as a feckless twit but does manage to save the day at the end of the second episode.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In the space of a single evening with the President, he fixes every problem the embassy has faced in that episode.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: A thinly veiled one of Prince Andrew.
- Upperclass Twit
Other Diplomats
- Played By: Richard Katz
The French Ambassador to Tazbekistan. Often competes with Keith and gets on the British staff's nerves.
- French Jerk: Though in fairness Keith usually acts like a jerk to him too.
- Played By: Lachele Carl
The US Ambassador to Tazbekistan.
